Rocket launcher

ABSTRACT

An aircraft mounted rocket launcher has tubes rigidly fastened in only one cross sectional plane to allow for expansion and contraction of the tubes when rockets are fired. The rocket launcher may be fired either in single or ripple mode and incorporates novel safety features which practically eliminate the chance of misfire or premature firing.

United States Patent 1191 Taylor et al.

1451 July 31, 1973 ROCKET LAUNCHER [7 5] Inventors: Vincent J. Taylor,China Lake; Leslie P. Robison, lnyokenn, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by theSecretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.

22 Filed: Apr. 29, 1971 21 App]. 110.; 138,840

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 768,270, Oct.17, 1968,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 89/l.807, 89/l.8l4, 89/l.8l6 [51] Int. Cl F4lf 3/04 [58]Field oi' Search... 89/1.816 -l.8l8, 1.806, 1.807 1.814; 42/40 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Wallace 42/40 6/1960 Hamilton89/l.806 4/1958 Smoot et al 89/l.806

Primary Examiner-Samuel W. Engle Attorney-Edgar J. Brower, Roy Millerand Gerald F. Baker [57] ABSTRACT An aircraft mounted rocket launcherhas tubes rigidly fastened in only one cross sectional plane to allowfor expansion (and contraction of the tubes when rockets are fired. Therocket launcher may be fired either in single or ripple mode andincorporates novel safety features which practically eliminate thechance of misfire or premature firing.

4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 3 I I915 SHEET 3 BF 3 FIG.

FIG. 5

ROCKET LAUNCHER This is a Continuation of application Serial No. 768,270filed on 17 October 1968, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Previous launchers of the type describedhere have been fabricated with the tubes fastened rigidly in a number ofplaces in a rigid framework. With this type of construction, however,the useable life of the launcher was short because expansion andcontraction of the launcher tubes (which in some instances run as highas 3/8 inch) tended to buckle or tear the tubes loose from theirmountings.

Also, in previous rocket launcher systems it has been the tendency toprovide complicated or complex electrical circuitry involvingcapacitors, filters and the like which were thought necessary to theavoidance of radiation hazards. It has been found however, that, in someinstances, malfunctioning or premature firing of the rockets have been adirect cause of the failure or malfunctioning of the electricalcomponents in the system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention a rocketlauncher having a simpler wiring circuit has been devised wherein fewercomponents are involved and, thus, fewer soldered joints and fewerwires. The firing circuit according to the present invention is formedof fewer and less expensive components but with a greater safety recordthan with the former expensive complicated systems.

The rocket launcher according to the present invention has tubesattached in only one cross sectional plane so that expansion andcontraction can take place on both sides of the attachment plane. Theend of the tube extending rearwardly from the mounting area has beensupported by but not rigidly attached to, supporting brackets or ribsdepending from top and bottom longitudinal carrier plates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective view of theforward end of a rocket launcher according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the rocket launcher of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the rocket launcher with the left hand tuberemoved;

FIG. 4 is a front end view with a portion broken away to show a detail;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view along the line 5 5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6 6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 7 7 of FIG.3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detailed view taken along line 8 8 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of the electrical system; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side view of the rocket detent and contact arm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION FIG. Iof the drawings shows a perspective view of the forward end of therocket launcher It) with the rocket tubes 36, 37 fitted into tube holder46. Tube holders I6 are rigidly attached to each other by means ofbridging members 24 and 38. Also fastened to bridge member 38 is alongitudinal rib II. The tubes 36, 37 are attached to the tube holder 46only by the rivets 45 as more clearly shown in FIG. 8. After theassembly of the parts just described, a fairing 22 is welded securely tothe tube holders 46 and the bridge members 24 and 38.

A top view of the launcher, FIG. 2, shows how the longitudinal rib II isriveted to a plurality of hangars such as 40 and 23. A third hangar I3is shown in FIG. 3. These hangars are also attached to a lowerlongitudinal rib llIa as shown in FIG. 3 and the assembly is completedby the addition of an outer skin (not shown) covering the tubes betweentube holders 46 and the ends of ribs II and Illa.

Also shown in FIG. 3 is the arrangement of system components between thetwo rocket tubes. The electrical wiring is carried in two tubes 61, 63mounted on hangars 44 by means of clips 49.. Electrical current issupplied to the rocket launcher through an umbilical connector 41 and iscontrolled by the setting of switch S and intervelometer 100. Current tofire the rocket is applied through a contact screw 51 on plate 32 asshown in greater detail in FIG. 7. Plate 32 is carried on an arm 50which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 10. The arm 50 also carries adetent pawl 53a which will be more fully explained below.

Looking at the rocket launcher from the front, as illustrated in FIG. 4,it may be seen that each rocket tube has a detent operating mechanism 43which may be manually moved from the position shown to a positionapproximately counterclockwise. When the detent operating mechanism isin the position shown, the detents 53a, 53b and the contact screws SI,52 protrude respectively into rocket tubes 36,, 37. The mechanicalarrangement which produces this: result will be better understood whenviewing FIG. Ill) along with the later explanation of the operation ofthe launcher.

The cross sectional view in FIG. 5 illustrates how the identicalsections 40a and 40b fit together to make up the hangar 40.

A cross section through the aft end of the rocket launcher along lines6-- 6 of FIG. 2 reveals the rocket stop 27 which is integral with orsecurely fastened to the plate 26 and the assembly bollted or riveted tothe rocket tube as shown in FIG. 6.

The simplified electrical diagram is shown in FIG. 9 which has on theright hand side a diagrammatical representation of the contact members51, 52 mentioned above. A source of power is generally illustratedcoming in from the lower portion of the drawing into two contacts ofsafety switch S. and the usual stray voltage test receptacle I8 isconnected in parallel with the supply. When switch S. is in the righthand position. current is supplied to terminals A and F ofintervalometer I00 and contact pointsSl, 52 will be serially energizedunless selector switch S is closed for ripple launching.

OPERATION Before rockets are loaded into the tubes the detent device 43is rotated counterclockwise to lift the detent 53a, 53b and contactmembers SI, 52 out of the path of the rocket. Rockets are passed sternfirst into the tubes and carefully positioned so that the rocket finsare properly oriented with respect to rocket stop 27. Only when the finsare properly oriented in the tube will the stop 27 allow the rocket tobe completely inserted in the tube.

With the rockets in place and the circuit testing complete, the detentdevices 43 are returned to FIRE position. As shown in FIG. the liftingof the detent and contact members from the rocket tubes is accomis d by,atat ns hs fla s! m mbsafi w i carry on the aft end a cylindricalportion 59. Each portion 59 having a protruding pin 60 which extendsunder a tab on the end of the spring 50. Spring 50 is biased to itslowermost position by its own resiliency, a forked spring 54 and twofurther leaf springs 55.

In FIG. 10, the near fork of spring member 54 has been left off to showthe relationship of this member to pawl 53a. The forked members ofspring 54 span the detent member 53a and present an abutting surface 67to the mating surface 69 on member 53a so that, in order to rotate themember 53a clockwise, it is necessary to bow up the spring 54 againstthe action of springs 55. It will be appreciated that when the surface67 on 53a escapes from the surface 69 on the spring 54 further movementwill be relatively easy. The contact member 51 has not been shown inFIG. 10 for the sake of clarity but is attached to the plate 32 as shownin FIG. 7 and will be on the right hand or left hand side of member 50depending on which rocket tube is served. When the detent operatingmeans 43 is in the position shown in FIG. 10 the tab 56 of detent 53aand a contact member 51 will not protrude into the rocket tube 36.However, when the member 43 is rotated counterclockwise, the spring 50is allowed to move downwardly as shown in FIG. 10 and the tab 56 andcontact 51 will protrude into the rocket tube 36 as shown in FIG. 7. Thedetent tab 56 will then extend into a groove on the rocket and thecontact member 51 will be in contact with a firing contact band on therocket.

When current is supplied to, the rocket firing circuit and to contact 51the rocket motor is energized and pressure is exerted tending toforcethe rocket from the tube. However, the detent tab 56 prevents therocket from leavingthe tube until sufficient force has been built up tocause the mating surfaces on detent means 53a and spring 54 to escapeagainst the combined tension of spring 54 and leaf springs 55. As therocket leaves the tube, the detent 53a is then rotated thereby in aclockwise manner and lifts arm 50 and contact 51 out of the rocket tube.When the arm 50 is moved upwardly sufficiently to clear the end 60, atorsion spring 62 returns the detent arm 43 to its SAFE position.

What is claimed is:

l. A missile launcher including:

a plurality of launcher tubes; and

a framework including;

a tube holder receiving one of the ends of each of said tubes,

one or more supports spaced outboard of said tube holder, and

a longitudinal rib connecting each said tube holder and each saidsupport;

said tubes being slidingly received in said supports and received inindividual bores in said tube holders and fastened therein by aplurality of fastening means defining a single crosssectional plane.

2. The launcher according to claim 1 further including detentmeansassociated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until apredetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operablelifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected witheach said detent means; and including rotatable means extendingexternally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.

3. The launcher according to claim 1 wherein said tubes are fastened insaid holders by means of a plurality of rivets spaced around saidholders in said crosssectional plane.

4. The launcher according to claim 3 further including detent meansassociated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until apredetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operablelifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected witheach said detent means; and including rotatable means extendingexternally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.

1. A missile launcher including: a plurality of launcher tubes; and aframework including; a tube holder receiving one of the ends of each ofsaid tubes, one or more supports spaced outboard of said tube holder,and a longitudinal rib connecting each said tube holder and each saidsupport; said tubes being slidingly received in said supports andreceived in individual bores in said tube holders and fastened thereinby a plurality of fastening means defining a single crosssectionalplane.
 2. The launcher according to claim 1 further including detentmeans associated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until apredetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operablelifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected witheach said detent means; and including rotatable means extendingexternally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.
 3. Thelauncher according to claim 1 wherein said tubes are fastened in saidholders by means of a plurality of rivets spaced around said holders insaid cross-sectional plane.
 4. The launcher according to claim 3 furtherincluding detent means associated with each said tube to delay launch ofmissiles until a predetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile;manually operable lifting means mounted within said launcher andoperably connected with each said detent means; and including rotatablemeans extending externally of said launcher for lifting said detentmeans.